ABC Rachael Kirkconnell.
Rachael Kirkconnell is expected to release a statement today, according to Reality Steve. The Bachelor frontrunner has come under fire after various insensitive photos of her have surfaced.
Rumors about Kirkconnell’s past have been swirling for weeks now. It all started after a woman made a TikTok video claiming that Kirkconnell used to “ridicule” her in high school for “liking Black guys.” As previously reported by Heavy, the woman claimed to be a former classmate of Kirkconnell.
From there, the Cumming, Georgia, native was accused of “liking” a photo of two women posing in front of a confederate flag. Just the other day, photos of Kirkconnell attending an “Old South” formal dance were uploaded to Reddit, and the internet just about exploded.
“Rachael absolutely has some racist stuff out there,” Reality Steve wrote on his blog on Tuesday.
“I was told Rachael has been wanting to make a statement for a while, but the show was telling her not to,” Reality Steve added. “I expect that a statement from Rachael will be coming today. And in that statement, I fully expect her to take ownership for everything that’s been posted directly about her. She’s not going to make excuses, and she’s not going to try and explain herself either. She knows some of the things she’s done are wrong and are racist.”
Warning: Bachelor spoilers ahead.
Here’s what you need to know:
Reality Steve Has Been in Touch With Some of Rachael Kirkconnell’s Family Members
Without naming names, Reality Steve blogged that he has been talking to some of Rachael Kirkconnell’s family members, and that he asked his fans if they would want him to have one of them on his podcast. He said that the feedback he’s gotten has been interesting, with many people assuming that Kirkconnell’s family would simply defend her past behavior.
“Here’s the situation. I did plan on having a family member on … However, at no point if that podcast were to have taken place, was that family member going to come on and give ANY excuses for the stuff that’s come about online regarding Rachael. ‘Indefensible’ was a word they used a lot. ‘Mortified’ was another. I’ve been in touch with the family members all weekend. Literally all day every day,” Reality Steve wrote.
He went on to say that he plans on discussing this more in depth during his podcast on Tuesday night with former Bachelor star, Ashley Spivey. He also said that what people have seen about Kirkconnell isn’t actually true.
“But we just wanted to point out that not everything in those TikTok videos that so many have taken as 100% accurate is actually factually correct,” he wrote.
Reality Steve Believes Rachael Kirkconnell Will Need to Do a lot After She Apologizes
Reality Steve believes that Kirkconnell isn’t going to get away with a simple apology. In fact, he believes that this is “just the beginning.”
“Now, will an apology ease everyone’s mind? Of course not. Nor should it. There’s A LOT of work that needs to be done post apology. This is just the beginning. Nothing Rachael says in a statement will change anyone’s mind who already thinks she’s a white supremacist and/or racist. This is no different than Hannah Brown’s situation this summer – except we don’t have to wait two weeks to hear from her for the first time. She’ll make a statement hopefully today, a lot of people will side eye it, a lot of people will say she’s only apologizing because she got caught, and plenty won’t even blink an eye at it. That’s what she will be dealing with for a while I assume, and from what family members have told me, she understands that,” Reality Steve wrote.
Fans have not forgotten that Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are dating — he chooses her on the finale of The Bachelor, according to spoilers. The two didn’t get engaged, but Reality Steve has confirmed that they are still together.
Matt James has not responded directly to Kirkconnell’s past behavior or those Old South ball photos that recently surfaced.
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